Related Links

Welcome to the land of chin flicks, where we have seen two wins in two days, three telling gestures and one apology.

After a brilliant performance Thursday afternoon, Detroit Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer walked off the field and tipped his cap to the fans in Comerica Park. It was not a flick under his chin, thank goodness. It was a respectful, appreciative tip.

“The fans were on their feet, giving me all of their support, appreciating what I did,” Scherzer said. “I wanted to show appreciation for the fans.”

Oh, if only they all pitched like Scherzer, or acted with as much class.

The Tigers had a 2-0 lead over Pittsburgh, entering the bottom of the eighth inning, and Tigers closer Joe Nathan started to warm up. How would Tigers fans react to Nathan after he made a vulgar gesture toward the stands on Wednesday night? How would he react? Even Tigers manager Brad Ausmus had some trepidation. “It certainly crossed my mind,” Ausmus said. “He will have to come into a game at some point. Sometimes, it’s better to get out of the way quickly.”

Lo and behold, we will have to wait to find out because the Tigers added three more runs, Nathan sat down, and Phil Coke entered the game to pitch the ninth.

Then it got interesting again after Coke gave up a two-run home run, and fans in Comerica Park started to boo.

Oh boy, here we go again. Coke was yanked and I watched him take every step to the dugout. Thankfully, there were no gestures involved. In came Joba Chamberlain. Nathan got up again in that bullpen, and the drama just wouldn’t end.

After a great play by Torii Hunter, Chamberlain tipped his cap, thanking his teammate. This, too, was a telling gesture. Baseball is full of them. “Torii’s play was unbelievable,” Chamberlain said.

And it was a great win for the Tigers, cleansing some of the ugliness that has stuck to this team.

Nathan gave Tigers fans a chin flick — the Italian equivalent of the middle finger — after the Tigers’ 8-4 win over Pittsburgh. It was a vulgar, stupid, idiotic thing. And then, just in case somebody missed it, he did it again. It was a double-flick night, not to be confused with a double-fisted bird, but it’s basically the same thing. It was one flick for each of the batters he walked in the ninth inning, I suppose. Which is why all of those Tigers fans were booing him in the first place. That and all of his blown saves.

On Thursday morning, Nathan entered the Tigers’ clubhouse and offered an apology. “Both sides were frustrated,” Nathan told a group of reporters. “I was frustrated. Fans, obviously, were frustrated. For myself, I apologize for that.”

Obviously, when Nathan flicked off more than 40,000 fans, he was frustrated about being booed. But this gesture just made it worse. You think he was facing pressure before? He’d better turn into Mariano Rivera from this point, or Tigers fans will flick him right out of town.

Right back at ya, buddy!

“I have two kids, and I need to be a better example for them,” Nathan said. “Thank God they are still young enough that they won’t know about this. I do know, and I do need to be better for that.”

The apology was needed, but more should be done. Nathan should be fined.

In 2012, the NBA fined Orlando Magic forward Glen Davis $35,000 for flipping the bird to fans at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

In 2009, the NFL fined Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams $250,000 for making an obscene gesture at Buffalo fans. But this was different. This was flipping off his own fan base.

Basically, Nathan pulled a Dominic Raiola. The Lions’ center was fined $7,500 in 2008 for giving the middle finger to hecklers at Ford Field. Two years later, he was fined $15,000 for shouting a vulgar directive after a Lions win in Miami.

“Clearly, an inappropriate gesture,” Ausmus said. “I talked to Joe. He’s completely embarrassed by it. He’s never done anything like that before. He feels awful. He knows it was a mistake.”

Clearly, Nathan was showing frustration because he has never struggled like this, and he has never faced this kind of fan base. He pitched in Texas for two years and blew just six saves — the same number he has blown in 30 opportunities this year in Detroit.

And before Texas, he pitched for the Twins in a place where they have a thing called Minnesota Nice. Everybody in Minnesota is known for being courteous, reserved and mild-mannered — to your face. Nobody bothers to boo in Minnesota because, well, they are too busy trying to thaw out.

But this is Detroit. It’s blue-collar, rough and tumble, and nobody here hides their feelings, especially when everybody is in a foul mood because of flooded highways and wet basements and a baseball team that had fallen out of first place.

“I do apologize for my actions,” Nathan said, “and I want to put it behind us as quickly as possible and move on to what is important and win games.”

Hallelujah. Everybody can agree about that. Tigers fans just want him to throw strikes, save games and help this team get into the playoffs. He has to be better than ever, just to make up for what he’s done.